Official 280 Sundancer Thread

i am just tired of the bumping into gear... not so smooth shifts... it just doesnt feel that "positive" when going in and out of gear...
 
scootdogg said:
i am just tired of the bumping into gear... not so smooth shifts... it just doesnt feel that "positive" when going in and out of gear...
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That is because you have alpha drives - they have no clutches - bravo drives shift much smoother - as i stated earlier, if you use livorsi 4 handle controlls they would separate the throttle and shift functions (like an inboard powered boat) and you could just throw the levers quickly and completely into gear without fear of engaging the throttle at low speeds
 
+1 on the shifting nature of the alpha drives. Most will "clunk" into gear. Some are worse than others but doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them. That's just their nature.
 
I hate the big clunk into gear also. Mine is very hard to shift, I let my wife try it once and she pushed so hard to get it out of neutral, that when it finally went she floored the boat and we all almost went flying out the back. I always figured something was too tight in the shift cable or the detent needed some smoothing out.
 
My last boat had the Volvo Penta Duo Prop. The previous owner upgraded the shifter cables too. That thing shifted like butter. It was disappointing moving on to Alpha's. The only bright side is if you blow up an alpha it is pretty reasonable to replace. Other then that, happy clunking!
 
melida said:
It's normal, too much load at same time then genny can handle.
Not familiar with your genny, since it's gas powered and 110volts, but there is easy math.
Sum the ampers of air conditioner, battery charger and fridge(running from AC power source) should almost reach what's the continious output of genny in terms of ampers.
So plus these water heater exceeds the ampers genny produce.
This calculation is same for how much your shore power supplies ampers.
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I have the Kohler 5E on my boat. I've run the AC ( 12K unit) water heater, both stove burners, microwave, and everything else on the AC panel and never had a problem with the generator. They are sized from SR to run everything on the boat.
 
ppkaprince98 said:
I hate the big clunk into gear also. Mine is very hard to shift, I let my wife try it once and she pushed so hard to get it out of neutral, that when it finally went she floored the boat and we all almost went flying out the back. I always figured something was too tight in the shift cable or the detent needed some smoothing out.
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Well, it shouldn't be that hard to shift. Your controller should move with a firm feel and some resistance to prevent it from drifting on it's own, but should not be difficult. On my 280, as I push into gear, I'll hear the gears meshing...the starboard does so more than the port. So I have to push a bit quicker and firmer to get them to mesh and into gear. But it's not hard. But I would love to have digital shifters!

Tom
 
Bridog said:
I have the Kohler 5E on my boat. I've run the AC ( 12K unit) water heater, both stove burners, microwave, and everything else on the AC panel and never had a problem with the generator. They are sized from SR to run everything on the boat.
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Glad you confirmed, because I could swear on more than a couple of occasion last season, I had everything running, including microwave and stove, with with air and water heater on...a common dinner time routine. The generator loads up (which is good) but has never thrown the breaker or any other issues.


Tom
 
On the Alpha Shifting, my ski boat has an 4.3L Alpha. There is a little ignition interrupter on the shift mechanism by the carb. It's purpose is to make the engine shut off for the brief instant it goes into and out of gear. I have found that adjusting this to a longer engine shutoff interval GREATLY EASES shifting. My Alpha used to grind it's way into gear and after adjusting, it is almost as smooth as my DTS on my 496Mag Bravo 3. Also, a too high an idle speed causes a big clunk. Lower the idle speed if you can.
 
Gunn said:
Well, it shouldn't be that hard to shift. Your controller should move with a firm feel and some resistance to prevent it from drifting on it's own, but should not be difficult. On my 280, as I push into gear, I'll hear the gears meshing...the starboard does so more than the port. So I have to push a bit quicker and firmer to get them to mesh and into gear. But it's not hard. But I would love to have digital shifters!

Tom
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Tom,
I had a 4.3 Merc with an Alpha 1 that had the common clunk that everyone is referring to, but my current Bravo III is hard to get out of gear! Is there something I can check out or adjust to improve that?
 
If remove the black housing at the base of the shift levers there are two screws on the levers that control the tension and the detent. They are hard to access so you will need a short screwdriver.
 
Before the beginning of last season I had the shift cables replaced because the shifts were clunky, stiff, and in the case of the port engine, not always crisp. The new cables corrected the stiffness and the big clunks, but highlighted a different problem with the port drive. Apparently, over time the cables stretch and make it impossible to synchronize the engine interrupt with the mechanical engagement. This contributes to the stiffness, and is the root cause of the big clunk.

Once the cables were replaced, the problem with the port engine became very clear. It would not shift smoothly into reverse, rather it would rattle around until it caught. The problem was a worn dog-clutch. I possibly could have gotten through the season with it but I just replaced the entire lower unit instead.

Here is a picture of a dog clutch:

A1 Clutch.png

It is inline with the prop shaft in the lower unit and slides one direction for forward, and the other for reverse, engaging mating surfaces on bevel gears that rotate in opposite directions off the pinion gear. Once the edges become round on the dog clutch, it bounces off its mating surface rather than positively setting. Without the interrupt, or a mis-timed interrupt, the mismatch in rates is too much for this type of setup causing clickety shifts (or no shifts), and also damaging the clutch. The stretched cables were likely the root cause of the problem in my case. I only provide this detail because once you can visualize the physical setup, what you hear and feel makes more sense.

Bravo IIIs have a very different setup with a cone clutch located in the upper unit as part of the upper gear set. The overall gearing concept is similar, but the cone clutch has a more elegant engagement style.
 
I agree that although you may hear a 'clunk" the shifter shouldn't be that hard to put into gear. If it is then you are probably time for new cables. Also worth noting is that when shifting it is better to quickly put in into gear rather than babying it and hear those gears grinding. I've had many friends that gently pushed thier outboards into gear and I would cringe. You will wear down the gears much faster this way.

I'll have to try it again and run everything off the genny. It would be rare that I do this but was really curious if you actually could do it. If it starts to bog down the AC compressor (which is what it sounded like) I'll just get the cabin nice and cold then shut off the AC for 20-30 mintes while the water heater is doing it's job. Even in the summer I can hang meat in my cabin. Man does it get cold in there. It's like staying at a Holiday Inn Express with the air tunred down to 62. You freeze at night but it's nice to wake up to.
 
Wanted to update everyone on the instal of my Hurley Marine Trim Tab lights.. The instal went great until we tried using them.. we installed both wires to the aft ac switch but the breaker would not hold. We took two of the wires and added them to Acc#2 on the starboard side of the switch panel. FWD acc was not useable. Anyway lights are working great. Just thought I would update everyone who is considering this MOD. Can't wait to show off my lights at "Lve at the levee" this weekend ..Kenny Wayne Shepard is kicking off the season.
 
wvsundancer said:
Wanted to update everyone on the instal of my Hurley Marine Trim Tab lights.. The instal went great until we tried using them.. we installed both wires to the aft ac switch but the breaker would not hold. We took two of the wires and added them to Acc#2 on the starboard side of the switch panel. FWD acc was not useable. Anyway lights are working great. Just thought I would update everyone who is considering this MOD. Can't wait to show off my lights at "Lve at the levee" this weekend ..Kenny Wayne Shepard is kicking off the season.
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Thanks for the update, so you have one light working off the AFT Acc circuit and the other light working off the ACC2? Any pics??
 
Why would LED lights be blowing the breaker? They don't use that much power.
 
The Hurley marine are HID's not wimpy LED's.. Each bulb (there are 4 draw 5 amps). What I did was split the wires from each side so when I turn on the first set with Aft ACC. I have one light on the port side and one light on the starboard come on. The #2 ACC turns on the other two. Hopefully will post pics this weekend.
 
wvsundancer said:
The Hurley marine are HID's not wimpy LED's.. Each bulb (there are 4 draw 5 amps). What I did was split the wires from each side so when I turn on the first set with Aft ACC. I have one light on the port side and one light on the starboard come on. The #2 ACC turns on the other two. Hopefully will post pics this weekend.
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Sorry I thought they were LED's. Looking forward to pics.
 
First season on my 280. Looking for ideas on which grill is best fit and mounting ideas. Considering round Magma using rod holder mount. Could place clamp on rod holder to the transom locker door. I would remove and store after use. Open to any ideas or pictures.
 
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